2011 General Election Results Are In

An Impressive 44 Percent of Registered Ohio Voters Turned Out on Election Day

On Tuesday November 8, 2011, Ohio voters turned out in large numbers to defeat two of the three statewide ballot issues.

Issue 1—Mandatory Judicial Requirement Age (DEFEATED)

Issue 1, which would have raised the mandatory retirement age to 75 years of age for Ohio judges was widely voted down 62 percent to 38 percent. Going forward, judges in Ohio will be prohibited from running for election beyond 70 years of age.

The two most hotly-contested statewide issues were Issue 2, the referendum of SB 5, which revised Ohio's public employee collective bargaining statutes, and Issue 3, which provides for an "opt out" for Ohioans to recent federal healthcare individual mandates.

Issue 2—Referendum of Collective Bargaining Reforms (DEFEATED)

Issue 2 was handily defeated 61 percent to 39 percent. SB 5 was passed and supported by Gov. John Kasich, Republicans in the Ohio General Assembly, and business groups. Those opposing SB 5 and urging a "No" vote on Issue 2 included Democrats in the legislature along with organized labor unions with each side spending millions on the campaign. SB 5, passed along a party-line vote in the Ohio House and Senate, attempted to revise Ohio's public employee collective bargaining statutes first enacted in Ohio 27 years ago. SB 5 would have prohibited public employees from striking during contract negotiations, increased health care contributions by public employees to 15 percent, increase retirement contributions by public employees to 10 percent, limit certain collective bargaining rights except for wages, hours, and terms and conditions of employment, and eliminated seniority / length of service, as stand- alones, from decisions regarding reductions in workforce in public employee positions.

With SB 5 / Issue 2 defeat, public employee unions, including police, fire, teachers, and other state and local government employees, may continue to collectively bargain with public employers, in total, without limitation of the above-referenced issues. Public employees would still have the option to strike during collective bargaining discussions with public sector employers, and, unless specified as a part of a collective bargaining agreement, would not have a mandatory contribution to the employee health care or retirement system.

Governor Kasich and Republican leaders in the Ohio General Assembly congratulated the opponents of Issue 2 on a resounding victory and indicated that state leaders would begin the process of working with local governments to address what are expected to be significant budget shortfalls for local governments in 2012 and beyond. It is yet unknown the overall legislative and political impact the defeat of Issue 2 will have on future budgetary issues in Ohio.

Issue 3—Anti Federal Heath Care Mandate (APPROVED)

Voters in Ohio approved an amendment to the Ohio Constitution attempting to rebuke a key component of the recent federal health care initiative supported by President Barack Obama. While the current federal health care law is still the subject of myriad lawsuits by the states in several federal courts, Ohio voters approved language amending Ohio's Constitution by a considerably wide margin—66 percent to 34 percent—attempting to block the requirement that individual Ohioans be required to purchase health care coverage. The language states, within the Ohio Constitution, that no law or rule shall require Ohioans to participate in the federal health care system. Legal scholars continue to consider the impact Issue 3 may have given the uncertainty of litigation surrounding the federal health care initiative and given that federal statutes generally supersede state actions.

Other Important Information

Approximately 3.5 million Ohio voters turned out to the polls for a turnout of about 44 percent of the approximately 8 million registered voters in the Buckeye State. Results for the November 8 election are still unofficial with absentee and provisional ballots still being processed and yet to be counted on or before the official certification deadline of November 29, 2011.

Information reprinted as a courtesy and with the permission of Bricker & Eckler LLP (www.bricker.com).  Bricker & Eckler Law Firm is an Ohio AgriBusiness Association member.